The Road to the Holy Capital, Part 6

Yohan opened the dimensional portal and pulled out the paper and writing utensils he had stored in his single-room. At first, he had thought of it as just a cozy place to crash, but this pocket dimension—accessible from absolutely anywhere—doubled as an incredibly convenient warehouse. Annie immediately began sketching a map of the Holy Kingdom, while Yohan and the Goddess watched her in silence.

"Tell me, Apostle. Have we not experienced a situation quite like this before?" the Goddess asked, looking up from Annie's developing sketch.

"Ah. You mean when we drew a messy circle in the dirt and said, 'This is the Empire, and this is where we are'?"

"Indeed, that is it."

It certainly was a similar situation. Yohan suddenly recalled the day he first met the Goddess. Back then, they were just a freshly resurrected human guy and a goddess on the brink of starvation. Now, they had grown into a respectable religious group with a village-sized following. Honestly, at this rate, aren't we way more legitimate than most cults out there? Yohan thought, glancing at the beaming Goddess.

"Alright. Assuming this is the entire map of the Holy Kingdom, Easthold, where we are currently staying, is right about here." Having finished the map, Annie pointed to the far right edge of the paper and marked a dot. Yohan and the Goddess immediately focused on the tip of her pen.

"This is the Holy Capital Justia. And these other dots are..."

"The cities storing those Divine Weapons or whatever, right?"

"Yes. So..." Annie trailed off, casting a tentative glance at the Goddess.

"Why do you hesitate so suddenly? Have you recalled some unpleasant memory?"

"Well, it is just... since the name of the Holy Capital is the same as your original name, Goddess." It seemed she was worried the Goddess might take offense. At Annie's words, Yohan and the Goddess exchanged a brief look before letting out a chuckle.

"Don't worry about it. She might be a bit of a dummy, but she's not petty enough to get worked up over something like that."

"Yohan speaks the tru—wait, what did you just call me?" The Goddess glared at Yohan as if she was about to throw a punch, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠realizing he had said it to lighten the potentially heavy atmosphere, she merely let out a soft sigh.

"Ahem. In any case, Annie, you need not worry about such things. I am a being who was stripped of that name long ago."

Watching the Goddess speak, Yohan felt a sudden spark of curiosity. "Hey, dummy. You've been saying you were stripped of your name and all, but is there a specific reason you can't just use your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠original name anyway?"

Actually, this was something he had been curious about for a while, but he had kept it to himself out of consideration for her feelings. At Yohan's question, the Goddess wore a complicated expression.

"Indeed. Mortals like you possess individual souls and physical bodies. Therefore, the names you use are merely for the purpose of distinguishing one individual from another."

"Hmm."

"On the other hand, divine beings like myself have no permanent physical form in this world. We are born from the collective unconscious of humanity." In other words, for gods, their name was essentially their true essence.

"Hearing you put it that way, losing your name really is a huge deal."

"Good heavens, have you only just realized that? You foolish thing." The Goddess clicked her tongue at Yohan's remark.

"Ahem. In any case, the name Justia doesn't mean much to me now. Unless the Main God Justia and I become one again." Saying so, the Goddess suddenly placed her small hand on Annie's shoulder. "Still, thank you for being considerate of my feelings. There is no need to worry."

"I-I understand." Annie seemed deeply moved by the Goddess's touch.

"Alright, let's get back to business. Those Divine Weapons or whatever. We need to sweep them all up to give our Goddess some proper nutrition."

At Yohan's words, Annie nodded and picked up the pen again. "As I said before, all Divine Weapons are managed by the cathedrals of each city. However, they are all open to the public, so accessing them isn't difficult at all."

"Hmm." Yohan had been imagining breaking through deadly traps like when he used to raid ancient ruins. If they had to infiltrate a storage area heavily guarded by numerous priests and armed Holy Knights... Fortunately, it didn't seem like they would have to do anything of the sort.

"And the Divine Weapon kept in this city's cathedral is the Sword of Saint Henrietta. It should take about an hour to walk from our lodging to the cathedral."

"A Saint's sword. Literally a holy sword."

"There is also a rumor among the public that whoever pulls out that sword will become the hero who defeats the Demon King." Annie chimed in response to Yohan's joking remark.

"What? Seriously?!" A holy sword that defeats the Demon King—isn't that the ultimate fantasy dream? Yohan shouted, his eyes shining.

"Calm down. In reality, it's just a rumor spread by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It's a lie made up to strengthen the faith of believers and attract tourists at the same time."

"Sigh... seriously." Why was it that nothing in this fantasy world was ever genuine? Yohan let out a deep sigh. But on the other hand, it was a relief. This confirmed that the Divine Weapons were nothing more than antiques that happened to contain the divinity of the former Goddess Justia.

"To think that those who believe in the Goddess of Justice would lead people with lies. How utterly absurd," the Goddess lamented, her brow furrowing. Yohan agreed with her in his heart and nodded silently.

"Even I thought that doing so was right to protect the Church. At least, until recently."

"To protect the 'Church', not to protect the faith, huh." Yohan chewed on the words Annie uttered. It was no different from using religion for diplomacy. Thinking about it that way, it was indeed a very Holy Kingdom-like move.

"By the way, if pulling it out means you can defeat the Demon King, does that mean the sword is stuck in some rock or something?"

"That's correct. The blade is actually embedded in the center of an altar, so only the hilt and a part of the blade are visible from the outside," Annie replied.

"For your information, it costs one silver coin per attempt. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And they only accept coins minted in the Holy Kingdom and the Empire."

"What a load of absolute bullshit." At her additional explanation, Yohan couldn't hold back his swearing.

The next day, Yohan and Annie visited the station as scheduled. While running off with the Saint's sword right away sounded great, the absolute priority of this trip was to retrieve the scriptures kept in the Holy Capital. If they tried to steal the Saint's sword first and things went sideways, they might have to tuck their tails and run without even getting close to the scriptures.

The magic circle for long-distance teleportation was carved directly out of a massive stone slab.

"I should warn you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in advance, teleportation using a magic circle can cause some motion sickness right after arrival," Annie suddenly warned right before the magic circle activated. Yohan merely shrugged. What did that matter? He had already teleported multiple times with the dummy Goddess.

Whoosh— As he thought that, a bright light enveloped them from the floor where the magic circle was engraved, and a mysterious resonance echoed throughout the room.

Flash— Soon, everything in front of his eyes contracted into a single point before snapping back to normal.

"Hmm—" Yohan squinted and looked around. It was clear that the teleportation had worked, but the scenery in front of him wasn't much different from before.

"Well, since they're all stations, the interior seems similar... *ugh!*" He stopped mid-sentence and gagged.

—Pfft. "Pfft—" At this, the Goddess and Annie burst into laughter at the same time. However, Yohan was struggling so hard against the wave of dizziness that he couldn't even swear at them like he usually did.

"Ugh..." Right. Actually, this was normal. Usually, the further the distance of teleportation magic, the worse the sudden motion sickness. It was just that the teleportation used through the Goddess's power was incredibly superior. No matter how much of a dummy or a fool she was, a god was still a god. Yohan had to admit that fact anew.

"B-But we arrived at the Holy Capital, right...?" If the motion sickness was this bad, surely they had made it all the way to the Holy Capital in one go, Yohan guessed.

"Unfortunately, we're still far off. We have to go through four more stations."

"This is crazy."

"A magic circle that goes from the frontier to the Holy Capital in one go places a huge burden on the body, and the actual demand is quite low. Besides, in an emergency, there's a risk that enemy forces could reach the Holy Capital in an instant."

Annie's words certainly made sense. Unlike trains that physically moved along tracks, a teleportation magic circle that moved to the destination instantly could conversely choke their own forces in a war. But what did any of that matter? Right now, he was on the verge of spilling unholy substances onto the sacred stone floor. Yohan grit his teeth to maintain his human dignity.

"Don't worry. It's only because it's your first time. Your body will adapt after using it a few times." So let's head out. Annie patted Yohan's back and immediately started walking.

"W-Wait for me..." Yohan followed Annie like a zombie, shuffling along. Once he stepped out of the station and breathed in the fresh air, he felt like he could live again.

"Sigh... I have to do this bullshit four more times." Having finally recovered, Yohan complained. Annie shrugged as she looked at him, then suddenly reached out and pointed to a spot ahead.

"Look over there."

"Oh." Looking where Annie's finger pointed, Yohan let out an exclamation of admiration without realizing it.

At the end of the straight avenue leading from the station's main gate, a massive and beautiful stone building stood tall. With its pure white outer walls, large window frames, colorful stained glass, and a fountain featuring a statue that was clearly modeled after the Main God Justia. At first glance, its magnificent appearance made it look like a castle where a local lord might reside, and it didn't fall short even when compared to the Lord's Castle in Valifield.

"This is the cathedral of this city, Pilgrim Hills."

"Wow, that's really amazing." Yohan was genuinely impressed. He was overwhelmed by the clean yet splendid architecture, which was completely different from mid-sized cities like Valifield or wasteland towns like Junk Town.

—Hmph, even so, it is nothing compared to the days of my reign. He heard the Goddess's blunt voice in his head. However, Yohan lightly ignored it and turned his head to meet Annie's eyes.

"Then the Divine Weap... I mean, this city's Divine Weapon is in there too?" He had heard that Divine Weapons were kept in the cathedrals of each major city in the Holy Kingdom. So, Pilgrim Hills Cathedral would also have a Divine Weapon, just like Easthold Cathedral.

"Of course. Why don't we go take a look at the cathedral while we rest?"

There was no reason to refuse. Yohan nodded eagerly at Annie's suggestion. Then he turned his gaze back to look toward the cathedral.

"Hmm." Now that he looked closely, he felt like he could sense a trace of divine energy from inside the cathedral.

—Indeed, I can feel that my sacred relic is over there. The Goddess also confirmed that Yohan's senses were correct.

"Alright. We can't steal it right away, but let's go take a look... first." He was so excited that he had momentarily forgotten they were in the middle of enemy territory. Yohan awkwardly switched to polite speech and made an embarrassed face.

According to the explanation he heard yesterday, the Divine Weapon of Pilgrim Hills was a plate breastplate made from iron extracted from meteoric iron. Yohan suddenly imagined the Goddess crunching and eating the plate breastplate.

"Pfft—" He burst into a silly laugh without realizing it, and Annie cast a slightly bewildered glance at him before simply shrugging her shoulders.